Credit Suisse Reiterates Outperform, Raises Price Target On PDC Energy On Lower Capex/Opex

In a report published Friday, Credit Suisse analyst Mark Lear reiterated an Outperform rating on PDC Energy Inc (NASDAQ: PDCE), and raised the price target from $60.00 to $70.00.

In the report, Credit Suisse noted, "We reiterate our Outperform rating on PDCE and raise our target price to $70 (from $60) as lower drilling costs and operating expenses drive a 17% increase in our NAV estimate. The company now expects to spend $473MM in 2015, a 15% reduction from prior guidance while production guidance was virtually unchanged at 13.5- 14.5 MMBoe (from 13.8-14.5). On top of lower capital expenditure guidance, PDCE guided a ~27% reduction in operating expense per barrel equivalent. We raise our 2015/2016 EPS estimates 150%/97% on LOE and DD&A guidance and introduce our 2017 estimate of $4.37 driven by 29% production growth to 64.7 mboe/d ($75/bbl and $4.50/Mmbtu in 2017)."

PDC Energy closed on Thursday at $49.71.